Cultivated Meat Factories Open in Australia and France, ‘Food-as-Medicine’ Startups Draw $2.5B in Venture Capital + More

Image Credit: Green Queen

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

Startups across the globe are on a race to scale cultivated meat. This week marked a major win for two companies: Australia-based Vow has unveiled its first factory dedicated to producing up to 30 tons of cultured meat per year, with Factory 2 on the way in 2024. Meanwhile, France-based Gourmey has raised €48 million to build Europe’s largest cultivated meat hub to date.

In other news, interest among venture capitalists in the medical potential of food has risen as the understanding of diet’s role in disease has grown. A coalition of investors have pledged $2.5 billion to startups looking to reduce hunger and improve health through food.

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1. Australia: Vow Opens One of the Largest Cultivated Meat Factories in the World Ahead of Anticipated Regulatory Approval – Green Queen

Factory 1 is capable of producing 30 tons of cultured meat per year, while Factory 2–poised to open in 2024– can produce 100 times the amount of cultured meat as its sister site.

2. France: Gourmey Raises €48M to Build Europe’s Largest Cultivated Meat Hub – Sifted 

The startup, which produces artificial foie gras as its flagship product, will use funding to build a production facility in Paris, set to be Europe’s largest cultivated meat production site.

3. ‘Food-as-Medicine’ Startups Draw Venture Capital – Wall Street Journal

A coalition of investors have pledged $2.5b to startups looking to reduce hunger and improve health through food.

4. Gene Editing Startup Inari Bags $124M to ‘Unlock the Full Potential’ of Seeds – AFN

Inari uses seed gene editing tools to enhance the natural diversity of seeds while enabling higher crop yields with fewer inputs.

5. Liquid Death Water Startup Valued at $700M – Bloomberg

The sparkling and still water brand is projecting $130m in revenue for 2022, and is on pace to double that number next year.

6. Biodiversity Quicky Rises Up the ESG Investing Agenda – Financial Times

Species loss is now seen as a problem as big as climate change.

7. Burger King, Popeyes and Jack in the Box Cut Ties with Ghost Kitchen Reef As the SoftBank-Backed Startup Continues to Face Operational Issues – Business Insider

The startup’s business model relies on deals with large fast-food chains like Wendy’s and Denny’s, and some larger ones have already cut ties.

8. The Rounds Raises $38M Series A for Its Sustainable ‘Household Restocking’ Service – TechCrunch

This Prime alternative has no annual fee, no packaging or waste and no tipping.

9. Typhur Cooks Up $20M to Channel Your Inner Sous Vide Chef – TechCrunch

Typhur’s Sous Vide Station includes all of the components needed for a home chef to try their hand at sous vide cooking, plus a digital touchscreen and video-guided recipes from Michelin-star chefs.

10. Farm Robotics Market Map: 250 Startups Automating Crop Production Indoors and Outdoors – AFN

There are 250 farm robotics startups automating various activities on crop farms both indoors and outdoors according to a new market map.

11. Low-Price Grocers Like Aldi Are Winning As Consumers Trade Down – CNN

With grocery prices soaring, consumers are changing the way they shop for food. That’s great news for discount grocers like bare-bones supermarket Aldi.

12. Key Takeaways from Biden’s Conference on Hunger and Nutrition in America – NPR

President Biden pushed for Congress to permanently extend the child tax credit, raise the minimum wage and expand nutrition assistance programs to help reduce hunger rates.